At A Glance

8 November 1956 at a glance

Day of the week
8 November 1956 was a Thursday.
UK Number One
The UK Number One single was “A Woman in Love” by Frankie Laine.
Top Film of 1956
The highest-grossing film worldwide released in 1956 was The Ten Commandments.
Star sign
The star sign for 8 November is Scorpio.
Chinese zodiac
In the Chinese zodiac, 8 November 1956 fell in the Year of the Monkey.
Birthstone
The birthstone for November is Topaz.
Moon phase
The moon phase on 8 November 1956 was Waxing Crescent.

On this day: 8 November

  • 1960 John F. Kennedy is elected as the 35th President of the United States, defeating incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon, who would later be elected president in 1968 and 1972.
  • 1965 The British Indian Ocean Territory is created, consisting of Chagos Archipelago, Aldabra, Farquhar and Des Roches islands.
  • 1965 The 173rd Airborne is ambushed by over 1,200 Viet Cong in Operation Hump during the Vietnam War, while the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment fight one of the first set-piece engagements of the war between Australian forces and the Viet Cong at the Battle of Gang Toi.
  • 1966 Former Massachusetts Attorney General Edward Brooke becomes the first African American elected to the United States Senate since Reconstruction.
  • 1966 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs into law an antitrust exemption allowing the National Football League to merge with the upstart American Football League.

Famous people born on 8 November

  • Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor (born 1974)
  • Gordon Ramsay, British chef, restaurateur, and television host/personality (born 1966)
  • Parker Posey, American actress (born 1968)
  • Minnie Riperton, American singer-songwriter (1947–1979)

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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Events of 1956 in the United Kingdom

A selection from Wikipedia's '1956 in the United Kingdom'. Not a complete list.

  • 17 February – The Midlands becomes the first region outside of London to receive ITV when ATV Midlands begins broadcasting; ABC, the weekend station, launches the following day.
  • 3 May – Granada Television begins broadcasting with a base in Manchester, extending ITV's coverage to Northern England and later Yorkshire.
  • 8 May – First performance of John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger by the newly formed English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre. Alan Bates has his first major role as Cliff.

Life in 1956

Prime Minister

Anthony Eden

Monarch

Elizabeth II

Pint of Beer

9p

Loaf of Bread

6p

Average House

£2,140

Weekly Wage

£11.05

Or

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Famous Faces Born in the 1950s

Well-known people born in the same decade as you, not on your birthday.

Sources: Wikidata and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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